All that remains of the garden, pic taken September 1

I know that a blog entry is long overdue. If I were to describe what transpired in July after my July 5 blog - and all of August - the best word would be “blur”. A companion word would be “overwhelm” - and while we are at it, let’s add a dash of “hot!”.

Something I’ve noticed about my behavior once I get behind in things - I just get even more behind. It gets hard to even contemplate catching up - part procrastination, but also just as much a desire to hide! There is some guilt in there too. At one point, my email inbox was well over 100, most of those unanswered emails gardening questions.

What made this particular growing season unique was the size and complexity of the effort. Having the greenhouse at the Veterans Healing Farm was such a wonderful experience. But, tending 115 plants there (with the help of a truly stellar volunteer crew) and 70 plants here stretched me to my 67 year old, bad kneed limits.

I did get it all done, somehow. Nearly 200 packets of saved seeds sit on my office shelves. There are folders of pictures on my laptop, a set of weekly Instagram Live videos available to watch in the proper tab on my IG profile. Two tomato tastings were rousing successes. I am enjoying less frenetic days, as Sue and I work in our hikes and kayak trips.

Just writing this blog means I am serious about summarizing the season. I will do this in several parts - first will be anything aside from tomatoes (squash, beans, melons, cukes, potatoes, peppers and eggplants). The next will be a detailed summary of my tomato results from my back yard (I may split that into two parts - it depends how long it turns out to be). Finally will be a summary of the Veterans Healing Farm results (which again may end up being two parts - 115 is an awful lot of plants).

I will be working on these in the evenings and hope to get the entire set of updates posted within a few weeks. After that, I hope to be finalizing plans to write my third book with Storey Publishing, focusing on the Dwarf Tomato Project effort. One more major future milestone for me that will definitely impact my 2024 garden - I will get a new left knee on December 5!